Jeffrey S. Adler

Jeffrey S. Adler has been providing legal representation to individuals, businesses and organizations for more than 30 years.

As chair of the firm’s Employment Law Practice Group, Jeff counsels individuals and corporations in all aspects of the employer-employee relationship including contract negotiations, drafting and negotiating employment agreements, drafting and reviewing employee procedures and policies, and risk management. He also has significant litigation experience and defends clients in restrictive covenant and employment discrimination actions.

Jeff’s clients span a variety of industries including telecommunications, manufacturing, marketing, software, medical devices, placement agencies, accounting and transportation.

With respect to the transportation industry, Jeff has more than 20 years of experience working on behalf of the railroads and focuses on attorney-client privilege issues.

Prior to joining Burns White, Jeff was a shareholder in the firm of Adler & O’Halloran, P.C. After graduating from law school, Jeff worked as a law clerk to the Hon. Carl B. Rubin, Chief Judge, United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio.

A sample of Jeff’s recent representative matters includes:

• Successfully obtained summary judgment on behalf of an accounting firm in a restrictive covenant action. The suit claimed that the newly hired employee was barred from joining the firm based on a noncompete agreement with a former employer.
• Counseled client and worked with local prosecutors during the criminal court proceedings in a case in which a former employee was arrested after sending illicit emails and making harassing calls to her former employer.
• Successfully settled a discrimination case for significantly less than the cost of defense in which a service industry company was sued by a former employee claiming he was fired due to his emotional problems.
• Successfully negotiated a settlement for significantly less than the cost of defense on behalf of a recruiting agency sued by a former employee who claimed she was sexual harassed by co-workers. A forensic study of the employee’s computer yielded information that diminished the value of the case.
• Successfully represented a high profile Fortune 100 company in a civil action to recover millions of dollars lost due to an elaborate fraud scheme.
• Represented the limited partner/owner of an apartment building that caught fire severely injuring several people and killing one person. Although the client was not at fault for causing the fire, the claimants sought to obtain recovery from the client’s personal assets. The case reached a settlement that protected the individual owner’s assets.
• Negotiated a special billing arrangement for legal services performed on behalf of a client with whom the firm had worked for many years. The client, a trade industry management company, had purchased an expensive software design package to run its business. The software did not work and the client sued the manufacturer seeking reimbursement for the cost of the software package. The case successfully settled through mediation and the client was reimbursed for the cost of the software package.
• In a business break-up, successfully defended an injunction action brought by the ousted shareholder.

Areas Of Law

• Employment Law
• Commercial Litigation
• Business
• Transportation Industry

Education

• University of Cincinnati (J.D. 1979)
• Indiana University (B.A. 1976)

Memberships

• American Bar Association
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Montgomery County Bar Association
• National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel

Jeffrey S. Adler
Philadelphia Office
Phone: 484-567-5656
jsadler@burnswhite.com